Create Electronic Death System

1. The department is hereby authorized and directed to design, implement and maintain an electronic death registration system for collecting, storing, recording, transmitting, amending, correcting and authenticat- ing information, as necessary and appropriate to complete a death regis- tration, and to generate such documents as determined by the department in relation to a death occurring in this state. As part of the design and implementation of the system established by this section, the department shall consult with all persons authorized to use such system to the extent practicable and feasible. The payment referenced in subdi- vision five of this section shall be collected for each burial or removal permit issued on or after the effective date of this section

BUT IN NO CIRCUMSTANCE AFTER APRIL 1, TWO THOUSAND EIGHTEEN from the

REGISTERED FUNERAL FIRM REPRESENTED BY THE licensed funeral director or undertaker to whom such permit is issued, in the manner specified by the department and shall be used solely for the purpose set forth in subdi- vision five of this section. Except as specifically provided in this section, the existing general duties of, and remuneration received by, local registrars in accepting and filing certificates of death and issu- ing burial and removal permits pursuant to any statute or regulation shall be maintained, and not altered or abridged in any way by this section.

2. Commencing on the implementation date, the department shall require that deaths occurring within this state must be registered using the electronic death registration system established in this section. Elec- tronic death registration may be phased in, as determined by the commis- sioner, for deaths occurring in the state until the electronic death registration system is fully implemented in the state. As used in this section, "implementation date" means the first day in January in the second year after this section becomes a law, or as soon thereafter as the commissioner reasonably determines by regulation is feasible in light of the intent of this section.

3. Commencing on the implementation date, all persons required to regis- ter a death or file a certificate of death under this article, and Such others as may be authorized by the commissioner, shall have access to the electronic death registration system for the purpose of entering information required to execute, complete and file a certificate of death or to retrieve such information or generate documentation from the death registration system. The confidentiality provisions in section forty-one hundred forty-seven of this title shall apply to information maintained in this system. 4. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, commencing on or after January first, two thousand fifteen, or on such date determined by the commissioner pursuant to subdivision two of this section, any requirement of this title for a signature of any person shall be deemed satisfied by the use by such person of digital signature provided such person is authorized in accordance with this section to use the elec- tronic death registration system.

5. (Licensed funeral directors and undertakers) UNTIL APRIL 1, TWO THOU- SAND EIGHTEEN, REGISTERED FUNERAL FIRMS shall support the establishment and maintenance of the electronic death registration system through a payment, tendered for each burial and removal permit issued to a licensed funeral director or undertaker, in the amount of twenty dollars, provided that such payment shall be considered a cost of opera- tion and the funeral director or undertaker shall not charge any addi- tional fee related to such payment for funeral or other services.

S2. This act shall take effect immediately.

Justification

The responsibility of coordinating the current manual process of ensur- ing the completion and filing of each death certificate falls upon funeral directors. The very cumbersome and time-consuming nature of this process needlessly takes valuable time away from a funeral director that could, and should, be dedicated to serving the needs of those who have just suffered the loss of a cherished family member or other loved one. As a result, a law was passed in 2013 to require the development of a NYS EDRS. Such systems are already being used in New York City, the District of Columbia and more than 40 states. The 2013 law required implementation of NYS EDRS by January 1, 2015.

Although the NYS Department of Health (DOH) is committed to the program and has made strides in various parts of the state, it is evident that various organizational impediments with some stakeholders have greatly slowed implementation. This is especially frustrating to funeral homes, which continue to fully fund the development and implementation of EDRS through a statutorily-mandated $20 fee for each burial permit issued to them - even though the system is not close to being fully implemented.

Legislative history

2017-18: S4805a/A6407a - HEALTH/ways & means

Fiscal implications

None to State.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.